Hi   First off thanks to all those involved in the creation of the new site - an excellent job - also very pleased to be a founder member. I am just starting a major refurb of my house and would like advice/views in relation to the speakers for the main living room (size 30ft * 15ft) - I currently have a BV4-65,BS3, BL7.2 and BL3 pair - in terms adding to this the options I am considering are: 1 - BL5s front and BL3s rear 2 - BL9s front and BL3s rear 3 - BL3s all round with BL2 Problem is that my wife wants the intrusiveness of the kit kept to a minimum so is happy with option 3, maybe 2 but option 1 would be a very hard sell.   Grateful for views or experience with the options and also whether I should consider replacing the BL7.2 with a BL7.4

I'd go for option 2 or 1 if you can. BeoLab 9s would probably fill a room of that size, but BeoLab 5s would be much more suited to the job.

If it is your main living room, remember that it is a living room and you have to live there! Therefore I would pay attention to the wife! I would get BL3s all round, get a Beolab 2 and replace the TV speaker with a 7.4. You will still have superb sound and I am sure the sound will be fantastic. I would use the cash saved to buy the wife something really special for being so understanding about your B&O and enjoy super sound and a very happy marriage!

I fully agree with Peter's opinion. Two pairs of BL3 with BL2 would do a good job although they would likely be underused as rear speakers. I also personally don't think that BL9 would optically match BL3 at all.

It's interesting that most girls don't like the visual appearance of BL5. It was the same with my wife  - once she saw them it was clearly a "no go"

Sonically, obviously the 5's every time. The more I hear the 9's, the more I'm reminded how remarkable the 5's are. I've become very use to the rumbling bass on say, a Detroit electro tune; so much depth and control, it adds a whole new dimension. They are the only speakers I've heard which can accurately replicate the FULL range from my CD collection. The 3's are still superb, and as a precise listening instrument they are lovely for accurate listening; not sure about the added dimension with a Lab2 with music though...'muddy' is a term that springs to mind.The wife test is a difficult one with the 5's though, and one which I believe drove the development of the 9's. My girlfriend still hasn't got use to them, or forgiven me for bringing them into the house! If you can swing it, you'll never regret it... 

From some further discussions it is clear that the BL5s are not an option (too greater visual impact) which is a real shame because from by limited listening to them at my dealer they are quite different to all other B&O speakers.

So that leaves BL3s all round with BL2 or BL9s with no BL2 - the difficulty I am having is that I cannot really perceive a great difference (like I can with the 5s) between the bl3+bl2 and the bl9 - I need to do some more listening.

What I have found however is that the BL7.4 is a lot more congruent in a surround sound setup than the BL7.2 which is strange as I find the BL7.2 to be an excellent TV speaker on its own.  Seems that the acoustic lens technology is complimentary.

 

Hi Pushkin,
Just a quick opinion. People tend to overdo size-of-room demands on speakers. What matters is how far away you'll be seated from the speakers. If you have a room that allows you to place speakers far apart - with you as far from them again (given they are powerful and precise enough for that) then you might want to look beyond the BL9s.
For most rooms, with normal listening/watching distances, they will do wonderfully, as will the BL3s.

I'm assuming you will be setting up your speakers to radiate down the length of your room, which means you'll have them about 10 feet apart, maybe a touch more, maximum. I wouldn't recommend setting the BL5s to radiate across the room, as you'd not have enough space behind you to avoid bounceback distortions - and you would ideally also want your rear speakers to be as far from you as the front speakers.

If you're looking for a blow-away experience, then the 5s will deliver that and more, but a properly set up pair of BL9s will perform beyond your satisfaction, while a quartet of BL3s will blend in nicely, thank you, and get a nice assist from the BL2.

It's a subjective thing. Try them out and go with your ears. (Also, make certain that the BL9s are set up right, and dialed in properly by the dealer you're doing your listening at. Give them the BL5 spec's if you want weight.) I was in a shop the other day where the 9s weren't connected, and where the 5s were run from a BV7, with the dealer placing my reference CD in the DVD-player! There was a perfectly good BeoSound 9000 on a stand, but connected to a pair of BL6000 in the store. The dig-out from the BeoSound 9000 would have been nice food for the BL5s. Not to be.

Arghhhh!

 

I agree wth Killy, push for option 1 if you can, we have lab5s front and 8000 rear and movie sound absolutely ****ing awesome. They replaced our lab 2 and 8000s at the front and it does actually look less cluttered and is easier to hide cables and surge protectors etc behind .

Otherwise option 2 with 9s in front and 3s at rear these are very unobtrusive speakers and will perform much better than 3s at the front.
 

Peter:

If it is your main living room, remember that it is a living room and you have to live there! Therefore I would pay attention to the wife! I would get BL3s all round, get a Beolab 2 and replace the TV speaker with a 7.4. You will still have superb sound and I am sure the sound will be fantastic. I would use the cash saved to buy the wife something really special for being so understanding about your B&O and enjoy super sound and a very happy marriage!

peter's advice sure is very wise, but i don't think that any "beomaniac" that has the chance and the cash to afford a pair of 5s or 9s will resist to that chance for a long time.

If WAF is the deciding factor then the 5's are probably out of the question. I like the sound of option 2 (it is the setup I am looking at at the moment), as I am in love with the 9's at the moment and really don't like the BL2.

I think that option 2 is looking good given my wife does not like the BL2 very much.  B&O have been skillful with the BL9 in that it does grow on you, sounds much better than the size might suggest and importantly women seem more tolerant of them than the 5s